Council Temporary staff cost pass a million with a little help from a possible lie

Temporary staff costs for Folkestone & Hythe District Council between April and Nov 2022 have reached £1,116,860.  We predicted back in Nov 2022, temporary Staff would surpass £1m for the third time during Dr Susan Priest tenure.

Since Dr Susan Priest (pictured) began as Head of Paid Service on 1 April 2018. Since the temporary staff costs have broken the million pound barrier in three out of the five years of her tenure.

Dr Priest’s role is a statutory necessity, as per s4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989

Temporary employees are people that employers – such as Folkestone & Hythe District Council – contract to a job for a limited period through a third-party agency that staffs for other companies.

But this is not the only way to employee temporary staff. There are temporary staff who can be employed via what is known as ‘IR35′. The rules for this are set out clearly on the gov.uk website and can be found here

The off-payroll working rules, or ‘IR35’, can apply if a worker (sometimes known as a contractor) provides their services through their own limited company or another type of intermediary to the client.

An intermediary will usually be the worker’s own personal service company, but could also be any of the following:

• a partnership

• a personal service company

• an individual

The rules make sure that workers, who would have been an employee if they were providing their services directly to the client, pay broadly the same Income Tax and National Insurance contributions as employees.

Several former staff and current staff have been, and are being employed via the IR35 route, such as Michael Hale of MB Hale Consultancy Ltd

Moving on, a break down of Temporary Staff costs for the financial year 2022/23, and for the period Apr – Nov 2022, shows that £1,116,860 has been spent. This is the latest data available.

Between Apr and Nov 2022, Folkestone & Hythe District Council have made 405 payments to twenty agencies, according to their payment to suppliers data.

And finally, for those of you who have possibly forgotten, on 30 Nov 2022, at a meeting of the full Council, Cllr Nicola Keen (Lab) asked Cllr David Monk (Con), and leader of the Council, the following question:

Cllr Keen received the following answer from Cllr Monk

The Council’s payment to suppliers data for November 2022 only, shows that 61 payments were made to ten agencies

So here is a question for you to consider.

How likely was it eleven temporary staff were employed by the Council, at the time Cllr Monk gave his answer to Cllr Keen, on 30 Nov 2022?

We’ll leave you to mull that over.

The Shepway Vox Team

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